Jess' Pride and Joy
by SLPikachu
Summary: A late night one-shot about Jess as a dad, raising his kid with help from family.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: Every now and then, I'll have late night weird story ideas pop into my head. This is one of those times. Just a one-shot of Jess going through fatherhood. Don't ask why.**_

* * *

Jess Mariano stared through the glass at the tiny bundle squirming around in the hospital bassinet. He couldn't believe a part of him was in that little form. He barely remembered the mother, being someone he met on a bad night as a one night stand. He wasn't proud of the moment either. Everyone screwed up, now and then, right? It was a surprise, though, that she remembered him. Then again, she also remembered some other guy as well and both had to submit to a blood test to see which one was the father. Jess wasn't expecting the doctor to call his name, but when she did, Jess could barely breathe.

The doctor asked what options Jess wanted to do. The mother didn't survive child birth so the kid was motherless. They told her beforehand there was a possibility so it wasn't sudden. So she gave them the names of the possible suspects who could be the father. Jess was one of them, though he didn't believe it at first. He came anyway just to humor them. When Jess heard he was the kid's father, he just about passed out. Now there he was, standing before his baby girl. _His_ baby girl.

The name on the name tag was left blank. The mother forgot to inform anyone so the task was up to him. He never even owned a pet. Now he had to name a tiny human?

Jess tilted his head as the infant continued to squirm the way newborns do.

Another option the doctor informed him about was adoption. Jess considered it. He thought that was the best idea. But for some odd reason, both his head and his heart scolded him in thinking something like that. He grew up not knowing his father until he was eighteen when the guy suddenly showed up. Not even Jess Mariano could go through not letting his own kid get to know him.

Jess thought long and hard a good name for this kid. What did she look like? To him, she looked weird. But it was rare when the guy was around babies, and pretty sure he'd never been around a newborn. He never saw his little half sister as a newborn.

 _What do you call a little kid?_ He continued to question in his head. A bunch of names came to mind, listing them off silently to himself. _Sally, Mary, Greta, Daisy, Katrina._ The newly young single father scrunched up his face in confusion.

Eventually, the nurse working in the nursery, came in, checking on the kiddos. She stopped at his and smiled at him through the glass. Assuming she belonged to him, the nurse picked the little one up, carefully cradling the newborn in her arms, and made her way through the door, walking over to where Jess was standing.

"My guess is this little beauty is yours?"

Jess couldn't help squirm, unable to make eye contact. With the nurse anyway. Now receiving a close up, he could see the tiny bundle was the most beautiful sight he had ever laid eyes on. "Uh, yeah. I guess so." He showed the nurse an ID just to be on the safe side. Yup. His name matched what was on the ID bracelet around her ankle.

"Would you like to hold her?"

His eyes widened at being asked that. "Uh...I never held one before."

"It's real simple. Just hold your arms out…" The nurse showed him how to hold a baby, making sure he was supporting her head. By the time she was in his arms, her head supported by his arm, Jess was pale and nervous. "Relax, Dad. You're doing just fine."

Jess tried to relax. Really. But this was new territory for the guy. His anxiety rose when after five minutes, the nurse went back inside the nursery. Thankfully, she returned shortly after, holding a bottle of formula.

"Would you like to do the honors?" she extended the bottle out towards him.

Jess didn't move. Not at first. He was afraid to move an inch. She looked so fragile. The nurse must have sensed his nervousness and helped situate her where he could hold her in one arm. Shakily, Jess took the bottle and held it close to her tiny lips.

Since being handed to him, she had already been staring up at him with curious big brown eyes. It was too soon to tell who she looked like, if she looked like him or not. But it didn't matter. To him, she was beautiful. In fact, it reminded him of a name he had come across in a book he read at some point and it seemed like the perfect match. Callie. Callie Mariano. Yeah. He liked the sound of that.

"Hey, Callie," he heard himself say out loud as Callie drank down the formula.

The nurse smiled at that. "Callie sounds like a lovely name for a beautiful little girl."

Jess nearly jumped out of his skin, forgetting for a moment that he wasn't alone. He was glad he didn't jump enough to drop the precious cargo he was holding. Unexpectedly, he couldn't help smile and returned his gaze towards Callie, who was still eating. "That's why I picked it."

Eventually, Jess was able to leave the hospital, bringing Callie along. The same nurse showed him how to hook a car seat into the backseat of his car. While he drove, nobody that knew him well would be able to recognize him driving. For once, Jess Mariano obeyed all traffic laws and barely went over the speed limit. He wasn't driving slow but it wasn't his normal fast speed.

He knew he needed help if he was gonna do this. Driving all the way to Stars Hollow, Jess pulled up in front of his uncle's diner, parking behind the familiar green truck. Getting out, Jess shut his door and opened the one to the back seat, to unhook the carrier, heading inside before someone that knew him, spotted them.

Thankfully, the place wasn't that packed and spotted his uncle standing behind the counter. Heading over there, he said, "Hey."

Luke looked up, a surprised look appearing on his face. "Jess. What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you. Can we go somewhere private?"

"Uh, sure. You need money or something?"

He shook his head. "No. Just…" Jess took a deep breath, letting it out. "I need some advice."

"Advice?"

Jess was holding the baby carrier in one hand where the counter hid it from his uncle's view, so Luke couldn't see her. Yet. "Please? It's kind of important."

"Yeah, sure." Luke turned to head for upstairs, letting Caesar know. Jess followed his uncle upstairs. It was when they reached upstairs and Luke turned to let Jess in first, was when he finally noticed the tiny form sleeping soundly in the carrier. "Jess, what is that?"

Jess looked down at Callie. "Uh, pretty sure it's a baby," he told his uncle.

"I know what it is. I mean, where did it come from?"

Jess pretended to ponder on that. "Well, when a mom and dad get together, they…"

Luke held up a hand to stop him right there. "Ha ha. Very funny, smartass," he told his nephew.

He smirked and shrugged. "You asked."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Seriously, though. Why do you have a baby?"

Jess glanced away. A coo from Callie alerted his attention. She didn't wake up though.

"Jess." His uncle's tone was firm but gentle.

Jess forced himself to look the guy in the eye. "She's mine."

That made Luke's jaw drop open. In fact, he couldn't even speak. "Wha…?" was all Luke managed to say.

"She's mine," he repeated.

Luke lowered his head, staring straight at him. "Yours."

"Yep."

"Yours."

"Same DNA. Even same blood type. Not that has anything to do with being mine," he quickly added.

"Yours."

"Yes, we already established she's mine." Jess was getting annoyed by now.

"Yours?" Luke tilted his head, slightly.

Jess let out an annoyed groan. "Yes, how many times must I say it?"

"I'm sorry. I just… I'm finding it hard, picturing you with a kid," he finally said, his hands on his sides, now. "So what are you gonna do with her?"

"I'm keeping her."

The surprised look returned. "Excuse me?" He could barely believe what he heard.

"Callie's mine so I'm keeping her," Jess explained further.

"Callie?"

"That's what I named her."

"That's...That's a beautiful name, Jess," Luke told him. "Just one question. Why? I mean, I think it's great you're owning up to being her father and making the right choice. It's just...I never took you as the fatherly type."

He shrugged. "Neither did I. But she's here. I can't just abandon her and let her grow up, not knowing who I am. I'm not a coward like mine was." Jess couldn't help see Luke smiling. "What?" he demanded of his uncle.

Luke quickly shook his head. "Nothing." The smile vanished which he asked, "So why did you come here?"

"Well, I figured, I have no idea what I'm doing. So, I figured I'd move back here and was wondering, and I'd pay you rent, if you let me use the apartment." Jess nodded inside the small apartment that used to be his grandfather's office. "I mean, you're technically not using it anymore...right?"

Luke stared into the apartment, as well. He looked back to ask, "What about work? You're not gonna be able to continue working there if you move back here."

Jess nodded. "I know. But starting this fatherhood thing out alone freaks me out way more. I'll figure something out. I'll even help you out," he motioned his head towards the stairs, "until I find something better."

"Well, you don't have to worry about rent. At least not right now." Luke looked over at the tiny sleeping form. Switching back to his nephew, he couldn't help fill with proudness. "I'm proud of you, Jess."

"Thanks," he replied.

Luke playfully slapped a hand to his shoulder.

Four years later:

"Callie! Let's go! You're gonna be late on your first day." Jess hurriedly packed his daughter's lunch. It was her first day starting preschool.

The last four years was nothing compared to what Jess had expected it to be. The first year included many, many, _many_ nights of having to wake up, several times to feed and/or change her, and try to get Callie to go back to sleep. Sometimes, he found himself having to call Luke, especially the first time Callie got sick, bringing Lorelai along too. He was overly freaked out by the time Luke finally woke up and came on the phone.

He never thought he would be doing any of this stuff. Changing diapers was the worse part, up there with spit ups. The amount of laundry that had to be done, stunned him, as well. On top of that, Jess juggled time in the diner and looking for other work, along with taking care of Callie. When his mother found out she was a grandmother, Liz was very pleased. Surprised like her brother, but pleased, nonetheless. She offered to help him out, by babysitting for him. Jess was skeptical about it, though, remembering how it was while he was growing up with her. Doula assured she would help their mom take good care of Callie, and be a very good aunt. With encouragement from Luke, Jess finally agreed to let Liz watch her granddaughter.

However, for the first week being separated, Callie cried constantly, missing Jess. It made things harder to continue to let his mom, babysit. Liz assured him, it'll get better and after a week or so, it did. Though, it caused him to miss seeing her take her first steps. Thankfully, TJ taped it and showed it to him. Jess couldn't help feel a little pride build up inside of him. Callie did say her first word while he was giving her a bath.

"Duh-da." It caught him off guard to hear her say something that resembled English...sort of.

"Did you just…?" Jess stared directly at her. "Say it again. Come on. Say it again." It took a few tries but she repeated herself. If he didn't know better, he'd sworn Callie was calling him, daddy. If so, a warm feeling washed over him, that frankly, freaked him out a little.

One thing Jess did know well was reading to Callie, every day and every night. To the point, she was speaking simple, full sentences by the age of two and reading simple little kid books on her own by age three. By the time Callie turned four, Jess knew she was ready to start school. But he wasn't.

Though, Jess wouldn't admit it, he hated the fact she was growing up so fast. Don't get him wrong, he was glad to be passed the diaper phase and not having to get up, several times a night. He still got woken up whenever Callie had a nightmare and needed a comforting hug. Jess had laid down the law that he wouldn't be that parent who let their kid climb into bed with him. Callie had to learn to sleep on her own. Well, that did not last long. Somehow, he found himself sharing the big people's bed, as Callie calls it, with a munchkin and a stuffed black and white tiger Liz had brought back from one of her fairs she worked at, for Callie.

Callie hurried over from her side of the small apartment, dressed and ready for school, wearing a yellow tank shirt with _Alvin and the Chipmunks_ from their live action movie with the words _Rock it!_ , and blue shorts with three orange stripes going down the sides. She climbed onto one of the chairs, standing up on her legs.

"Ready, Daddy."

Jess quickly moved over from the counter, taking the box of Frosted Flakes over to pour in her bowl that had a straw attached to the side. Wanting to pour it herself, he passed it to her, overseeing while she poured the cereal. Jess poured the milk, though, not wanting there to be a spill since it was still barely a new one.

While she ate, Jess zipped her _Chipmunks_ lunchbox closed and placed it inside her matching backpack. As he was zipping her backpack closed, Jess noticed Callie had stopped eating and was just staring at it.

"What's wrong, Cal?" he asked.

She didn't answer. Not even a glance.

Moving over there, Jess kneeled beside her chair. That's when he noticed she had tears in her eyes. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"Wha...what if n-nobody likes me?" she finally managed to get the words out.

"Then they're stupid. You're a great kid, Callie, and if no one can see that, then that's on them."

Callie chewed on her lip while still staring at her cereal that was now starting to get soggy.

"Someone will, though. You can't think like that. Think positive, okay?" Jess rubbed a comforting hand on her knee before giving it a firm but gentle squeeze. Callie finally looked up at him which he smiled for her. Callie returned it. He then told her to finish eating before they finished getting ready for her first day.

Downstairs, Callie ran over, grabbing onto Luke's leg.

"Good morning, Uncle Luke," she greeted, looking up at him.

"Good morning, sweetie," he returned.

"It's my first day of preschool."

He smiled, holding a hand around the back of her head where she was still holding onto him. "I know. Are you ready?"

"I think so."

Luke chuckled and bent over to kiss the top of her head.

"Alright, short stuff. Tell Uncle Luke, good-bye so we can go," Jess told her.

"Bye, Uncle Luke," she told him, sadly.

"See ya later, kiddo. I want to hear all about your first day, later when you get home."

"Okay."

After exchanging _I love you_ s, Jess led his daughter from the diner and headed for the school where he walked her to her class. As they neared the classroom, Callie suddenly clung to her dad's leg, sidestepping behind it when they entered the classroom. When the teacher approached them, she hid her face too.

"Hi, I'm Miss Charity," the teacher introduced, holding her hand out for Jess to shake.

"Jess Mariano," he returned the gesture. "And this is Callie Mariano."

Miss Charity smiled, warmly. She tried to peek around at Callie. "It's nice to meet you, Callie."

Callie peeked out, shyly looking over at her teacher.

"I know it's scary but we're gonna have lots of fun, I promise." That didn't bring the kid out from behind her dad. In fact, she clung even tighter to his leg. Both Jess and Miss Charity tried to persuade her to go meet the other kids but Callie refused.

"You know maybe I started too soon," Jess finally said. "Maybe we should wait another year."

"Now, don't you worry, this will only last a week or two," she assured him. "One day, soon, you'll drop her off and she won't even know you're gone."

A tight knot got caught in his chest upon hearing that. He looked back, behind him at his little girl. Now that she was older, Callie looked so much like him, from her eyes to her nose, and even her hair, that grew to her neck.

Finally, Miss Charity broke into his thoughts. Class would be starting soon. Taking a step towards them, she reached out and peeled Callie off of him and told Jess to go, otherwise, he'd make it even harder. However, Jess insisted on letting Callie hug and kiss him, good-bye, returning both of them. It took all he had to stand to his feet and leave the classroom.

Jess snuck a peek through the window, watching Callie in case she needed him. Miss Charity tried to guide her over to play with the other kids who were playing with some toys. Of course, not only did she look like him, Callie was just like him, too. She watched them for a good ten minutes before going over and picking out a few good books, taking them over to a beanbag chair where she slumped down to read them.

Even though he let out a slight chuckle, Jess couldn't help feel badly, Callie couldn't open up to the other kids. His heart suddenly began to race when another kid wandered over and grabbed the book out of her hand. Callie tried to jump up to grab it back, but the kid held it out of her reach and shoved her to the floor. Jess was about to storm in there, knowing she was starting to tear up. He stopped when he saw her get back up and shove the kid right back.

"Alright, way to go, short stuff," he said, softly, under his breath. "Just like I taught ya."

However, the kid wasn't going down that easy, and pushed right back. That was when Callie put more into it, and shoved the kid, backwards. Now, mad, the kid also put more into it, causing Callie to stumble backwards, landing on the beanbag. Jess was silently cheering her on. Laying there, glaring up at the kid, who laughed as he towered over her, Callie gave a mighty kick, right into a very sensitive area. The kid keeled over, holding it as he cried out.

Jess smiled, proudly. Hey, the kid started it, and knew he'd be okay. That'll teach him from messing with his girl. Of course, Callie was the one to get busted and was sent to time-out since the teacher never saw the events that led up to the kid being kicked. Jess had to fight the urge to go in there and tell the teacher the kid should receive the same punishment, but that would give away that he was still there, and Jess wasn't sure if he was allowed to be there or not. Instead, he ignored her bringing ice to the kid, basically cuddling him while his own kid sat over in the corner.

Once she was able to leave, Callie had to go apologize. At first, she stood there, pulling on her shirt, keeping her gaze to the floor. Finally, after pushing her to, Callie muttered something Jess presumed to be an apologize, but didn't object when the kid didn't apologize. However, for the next hour, he made sure to stay clear of Callie, seeming like he was afraid or something. Knowing Callie could handle herself, Jess peeled himself away, heading back to the diner.

"What took ya so long?" Luke asked when Jess returned.

"Had to make sure Short Stuff would be okay," was all he said. When it was time to go pick her up, Jess let Luke know he needed to leave. He hurried back to the school, hoping there wasn't anymore trouble.

The moment she saw her dad, Callie ran to him, who scooped her up.

"You have a good day, Cal?"

"Dylan was mean," she told him. "But when I kicked him in the you-know-where, I got sent to time-out and not him."

Jess pretended to sound surprised, like he hadn't been there. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But did it make him leave ya alone?"

Callie nodded, her lower lip sticking out.

"I'm sorry a kid was a jerk to you on your first day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better."

"Do I have to go back?" she gave him a pitiful look.

"Unfortunately, you do, short stuff. I'm sorry." She moaned at that. "Tell ya what. How about we go to the diner and convince Uncle Luke to fix ya a bowl of ice cream. How about that? That make your day better?"

A smile snuck on her face and Callie nodded.

Placing a hand to the back of her head, Jess reached over to kiss her cheek. Turning around, Jess then headed for the diner. Callie wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. Truthfully, though, he would never admit it, Jess never wanted this phase to end.


	2. Too Smart for Preschool

Part 2

Jess walked down the hallway of the school's main office after being directed by the woman at the front desk. He wasn't sure what happened, but was asked to come down and talk to the principal. Callie was a pretty good kid, overall. Being his kid, if another kid messed with her or one of her friends, she would fight back even if the kid was older. Callie had taken on her friend's eight-year-old brother who was twice their age. She told her dad she would have won but the siblings' parents had come in and broken them up. As long as his daughter wasn't going around picking the fights, Jess was one proud father. Unfortunately, the school and other parents didn't see eye to eye.

Taking in a deep breath through his nose, Jess gently rapped the back of his fingers on the door to the principal's office. Shortly afterwards, he heard the principal call for him to come in. Opening the door, he stepped inside. "You wanted to see me?" Jess held onto the door knob in his hand. "I'm Jess Mariano, Callie Mariano's father."

"Mr. Mariano," he greeted in a firm principal's voice. "Please, have a seat." The principal gestured towards an empty chair on the other side of the desk with his hand.

Jess shut the door behind him and made his way over to sit. He recognized the woman sitting in the chair beside his as Callie's teacher, Miss Charity, who greeted the young man.

"How are you doing, Jess?"

"Uh, good," he nodded towards her, trying to be polite, but at the same time, was trying to not let them see he was uncomfortable. Wanting to get right down to it, Jess asked, "So, what did she do?"

The principal peered over his glasses at him. "Excuse me?"

Jess shrugged, casually. "I assume another kid is messing with Callie again." Even if she got in trouble in school, Jess didn't punish her at home. The last time Callie was sent home, early, the two spent the rest of the school day, watching movies together. The amount of times he was called for Callie sticking up for herself was enough to make Jess really irritated with the school at this point and groan whenever he got a call from them.

"Nothing's wrong," Miss Charity assured him. "Mr. Bennett and I have been discussing Callie's progress since we started the school year and how further along she is than the other children, and we're only a month in."

Jess shrugged. "Okay? What's the problem?"

"There isn't really a problem, per say. Miss Charity has also informed me of how bored Callie seems to be while in class."

"We were thinking, maybe it would be beneficial to go ahead and advance Callie to kindergarten," she continued. "I think she's already more than ready and even though we're a month into the school year, I feel there wouldn't be much of an issue for Callie to catch up, especially if she got help from you at home."

Jess had lifted his head in surprise to hear his kid was too smart for preschool. Though, he always did call her a smartie, and on a few occasions, a smartass, since she was two. He shifted in his seat, anxiously. "You want to bump Callie up to kindergarten already?"

"I've already pulled Callie to the side and gave her a practice test to see how she would do, and she did very well." Miss Charity started flipping through a folder with several papers inside until she pulled out what she had been referring to. She then handed them to Jess, to let him take a look for himself. He scanned through the problems that Callie had done, flipping through the stapled packet. It was all stuff he knew Callie was already great at.

"I can talk it over with her, tonight. See what Callie wants," he eventually told them once Jess was able to speak, looking up from the packet.

"I feel this isn't a matter to see what the child wants," Mr. Bennett said, his hands folded on the desk in front of him. "If she isn't being challenged and shows signs of being further ahead than the rest of her classmates, we should put her best interest ahead of her wants. The only thing I see being a problem in all this are her social skills."

Miss Charity spoke up at that point.

"Yes, although, Callie is smart. I, too, worry about her social skills. She doesn't interact a lot with the other children. Being in a class with children older than her may make things worse."

"My half sister is in kindergarten," Jess pointed out. "If Callie's cool with it, you can stick her in the same class."

"Oh," she replied, in surprise. "That might work. If you do want to talk it over with her, can you get back to us no later than tomorrow so we can get started on the transition as soon as possible? She still has to take the actual admission test."

"We will discuss it tonight, yes," he nodded. "Maybe even on the walk home."

"That would be wonderful if you could." Miss Charity smiled. "Callie is such a bright girl. I know she's going to do well when she gets older."

"Yes, it's rare when the school is able to catch something such as this so early. You should be very proud of your daughter, Mr. Mariano," Mr. Bennett also said.

Jess could not hold back a smile at the high praise his little girl was receiving. Thanking them, he stood up, accepting a handshake from both before leaving the office. Mr. Bennett also thanked Jess for his time and coming down to speak with them.

Since it was almost time for Callie's class to get out of school, Jess waited there, leaning up against a tree, away from the other parents. Usually, it was the moms who picked up their kids and always tried to recruit Jess to join them in some kind of carpool or some other kind of activity or bake sale, or whatever it was the moms were doing these days, and Jess wanted no part of that.

Soon, the kids were led outside in single file lines. When Jess spotted Callie, he gave a loud enough whistle to grab her attention. The moment she spotted her dad, Callie went over to let Miss Charity know before dashing over to him. Jess stood up from the tree. Once she was closer, he pulled his hands out from his jacket pockets and scooped her up, holding onto her, sideways.

"Hey, short stuff. You have a good day?"

Callie hung there on his arms, laughing. "Yeah. We made shakers today." She held up a shaker made out of a toilet paper roll and yellow construction paper held on by rubber bands. Shaking it up and down, rice could be heard from inside. "You like it, Dad?"

"Sounds awesome, kid." Jess smiled proudly at his little girl. He then set her on her feet so they could start the walk home. "So, I saw your teacher and principal today." He decided to talk to Callie about moving up to kindergarten after she finished telling him about the rest of her day.

"But I didn't do anything today," she replied quickly. "Dylan didn't mess with me or Kenneth."

"I know. It wasn't about anything like that this time," he assured her as they walked down the sidewalk as people passed them.

"What was it about then?" Callie asked, curiously.

"Well, it was about how smart you are and how far along you are then the rest of your class. In fact, Miss Charity thinks you're already ready for kindergarten and wants to bump you up now, instead of next year. What do ya think?"

"I can go to kindergarten now?" Callie was wide-eyed as she stared up at her dad.

Jess shrugged. "If you want. You'll be with kids a little bit older than you, but you'll be able to read harder books. There'll also be less playing but you will have more of a challenge and won't be bored anymore."

"And maybe the teacher will let me answer when she asks a question, because Miss Charity won't let me anymore. She says we have to let the other kids have a chance to give an answer."

"Yeah, maybe. So, what do you think? Want to give kindergarten a try early?"

Callie looked away, switching her gaze towards the ground as if to think on it. "But if I go to kindergarten, who will protect Kenneth from Dylan?" she asked, lifting her eyes towards her dad again.

"Well, Kenneth is gonna have to grow a pair, eventually. He can't expect somebody to always stick up for him," Jess pointed out.

Callie giggled at that, knowing what her dad meant by a "pair".

"Very nice, Jess." A voice walking behind them startled both Jess and Callie, and nearly gave Jess a heart attack. He twisted around to see Lorelai walking behind them.

"Jeez, give a guy a heart attack, why don't you?" he told her, annoyed. Though they never got along before especially while Jess was dating her own daughter, in the last four years, their relationship seemed to get better. Mostly because whenever Jess called Luke when a problem arose, Lorelai usually tagged along and ended up being more helpful than he was. In time, she had gained a whole new respect for the young man, taking up the challenge of fatherhood on his own.

"Sorry," she apologized. "But did I hear right that somebody is being moved up to kindergarten already?"

"Yeah, it's me," Callie pointed to her chest with her thumb.

"That is so awesome. Congratulations, Callie," she praised the little girl.

"Thank you," Callie thanked her, politely.

"You're welcome." Lorelai gave her a kind smile.

Upon arriving at Luke's, Jess held the door open for both girls, letting them go in first before he did. Callie made a beeline straight for her great uncle, who also scooped her up but in one arm, kissing her on the cheek while holding the coffee pot in the other.

"How was your day, kiddo?"

"Good. We made shakers." Callie held up her shaker to show Luke.

"Oh, cool," he commented, not really sure on what else to say.

Callie also told him about moving up to kindergarten.

His eyebrows rose at that before switching over to where Jess was standing, as if for confirmation.

Jess nodded. "Yep. That's why I got called down to the school."

"That's great, sweetheart," Luke told his great niece.

"What's great?" Liz asked when she entered the diner.

"I get to go to kindergarten early," Callie told her grandmother, who brightened up, excitedly.

"Really?" She turned to her son, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to pull him in. "Jess, that so wonderful. You must be so proud."

Everyone was making a big deal and, yes, Jess would agree it was. But Jess wasn't the type to show it. "Yeah, I'm very proud." He smiled over at his daughter. "I was gonna take her out tonight to celebrate, actually. How's that sound, Cal?"

"Can we go to Chuck E. Cheese?" she asked, hopeful.

"Sure. Anywhere you want."

Callie cheered.

"Oh, Doula would love that," Liz stated, inviting herself.

"Actually, I kind of meant it to be a father-daughter date," Jess admitted, nonchalantly.

"But this is something the whole family should be celebrating, and you know your baby sister loves Chuck E. Cheese just as much as Callie does."

"Yeah but not as much as TJ," he muttered under his breath where not even his mother could understand him.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Uh, I said that's a great idea, but why don't we all do something this weekend instead? Tonight, I'd rather it be just the two of us." But of course when did his mother ever listen.

"Nonsense. Let's meet back here around seven and we can go together." Liz smiled between the group while Jess stole a look over in Luke's direction. She finally let go and went over to cup her granddaughter's face in her hands, trying to kiss all over it. The little girl squirmed, trying to break away from her grandmother, not liking the overaffection.

When he got the chance, Jess lowkey told his uncle that he and Callie would be leaving an hour earlier than seven, going to a different one. He also informed Callie once they were upstairs and out of earshot, assuring they'd let everyone come another time. Callie agreed, also exciting to have pizza and a chance to kick her dad's butt at skeeball.

Later, that evening at six, Jess let Luke know he and Callie were leaving and would be back later to help close up. Unlike his sister, Luke was okay with Jess taking Callie without the rest of their crazy family. It was a proud moment for Jess to celebrate with his daughter, alone.

Callie climbed into the backseat of her dad's car, getting into her booster seat, and reached up to pull down the seat belt as Jess slid into the driver's seat. Once he made sure her seat belt was fastened, Jess pulled away from the curb and started on their trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

It was a farther drive, but Jess finally pulled into the plaza where the Chuck E. Cheese was and parked on the end in front of the place. Once inside, Jess ordered the pizza and their drinks, also grabbing a bunch of tokens so they could play games.

"Where do you want to sit?" he asked once he had the cups, tokens, and the alert buzzer.

"Um…." Callie looked around the seating area. Since it was the middle of the week, the place wasn't that busy. Spotting a table, she dashed over, slapping her tiny hands on top. Jess followed behind her, setting everything down. He passed Callie, her cup and pocketed the tokens so no one could swipe them while they went to fill their drink cups.

Callie chose root beer, setting the cup underneath the fountain so Jess could hold down the button, and got Coke for himself.

"Can we go play games now?"

"Uh," he looked at his watch. "Why don't you wait until after we eat. The pizza shouldn't take that long."

Callie frowned in disappointment.

"We have plenty of time to play games," Jess assured her. "Don't worry."

"Okay," she replied, but still sounded disappointed. They headed back to their table just as Chuckie was making his rounds, interacting with the kids. When the oversized mouse came over to their table, Callie ducked underneath to move over to her dad's side, hiding her face into his side, knowing that was just some person inside a costume and not actually the real Chuckie. Chuckie tried to nonverbally cheer her up until Jess told him to kindly move along when Callie still refused to acknowledge him.

"So, what do you think, Cal?" Jess asked once Chuckie was gone. "You want to move onto kindergarten?"

Callie shrugged. "I don't want to leave Kenneth."

"You'll still see your friend whenever. Being in a different class doesn't necessarily mean you can't still be friends."

"Kenneth can still come over and I can still go to his house?"

"Sure," Jess shrugged. "And, maybe you'll make more friends. Plus, you might be in Doula's class, so you'll have somebody you already know, and can hang out with her and her friends until you make your own."

Callie thought on it some more. "Um...okay," she finally agreed.

"You sure?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'm gonna miss being in the same class as Kenneth and hope he'll be okay."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Kid does need to start sticking up for himself, anyway."

"I tell him that. He just gets scared," Callie shrugged.

After a few minutes of chatting amongst themselves, the alert buzzer alerted their attention, letting them know their pizza was ready. Jess told Callie to stay put while he went to grab the pizza, kissing the side of her head real quick before sliding out from the booth.

Each of them had a couple slices before Callie was full and was ready to go play. So Jess got a to-do box for the remainder of the pizza before heading over to the games. First thing Callie wanted to do was play her dad at skeeball.

"You are going down, kid," he challenged, as they put their tokens in the slots.

"No, you're going down, Dad," she told him with a smirk.

When the balls dropped to the openings, they each grabbed a ball.

"Ready? One, two...three!" As soon as Jess said three, they rolled their balls up their ramps. As soon as the balls went in a hole, they quickly grabbed the next ball, doing it until they stopped coming and the game was over with Jess the winner.

"You cheated," Callie accused, not at all happy she lost.

"Told ya you can't beat me, short stuff."

In response to that, Callie called for a rematch. They ended up having five rematches until Jess decided to go easy on her and let his daughter win, who hadn't noticed.

"Yay! I beat you, Dad," she pointed at him.

He smirked. "Yup, you beat me alright. Good job." Jess held up his hand to high five her.

Next, they played a game of air hockey where Callie finally beat him without Jess having to go easy on her. This time, they did best two out of three before moving on to the next game. On the basketball game, Jess lifted Callie onto his shoulders so she could toss the ball into the hoop that he passed up to her, cheering her on, in the process. She also convinced her dad to get their picture taken with a Chuckie statue.

"Did we just crash?" Jess questioned while they waited for the machine to take the picture when it made a crashing noise. It was bad enough he barely fit into the car. Callie also got a picture ID that said she was a police officer. What made it even better was when she saw a toy police set at the prize counter when they went to cash in all the tickets she won, which they had even up winning big on the _Deal or No Deal_ game.

"Cool! I'm gonna arrest Uncle Luke when we get home," she said, looking up from her prize.

Jess chuckled. "You are, huh?"

She nodded. "Uh huh."

However, Callie ended up falling asleep on the drive home. Jess, not wanting to wake her, carried the kid inside the diner where Luke was beginning to close up.

"Hey. You guys have a good time at the pizza-mouse place?"

"You have got to learn the name of the place," Jess told him. They kept their voices down as not to wake the little girl. "Especially since we're gonna be having her birthday there."

"Isn't her birthday not till February?" he pointed out.

"Yes, but that was the conversation topic on the way home before she fell asleep. She was full-on set on it and will probably remember, too."

Luke shrugged in agreement. The kid had a better memory than they did.

"How'd it go with my mother?"

"She wasn't too happy you had already left and that I wouldn't say which one, and since she had already told Doula and was all excited. I had to cheer Doula up by assuring her we would be going this weekend. I also told your mom, it was fine you wanted it to be just the two of you," he explained.

"Thanks," Jess told him.

"No problem."

Letting Luke know he was going to take Callie upstairs really quick, Jess headed up to the apartment. He laid Callie on her bed, and carefully removed her jacket and shoes, trying not wake her. She ended up waking up anyway, though. It wasn't fully but enough where he had her change into her pajamas with his help.

Jess kissed her good night once Callie was under the covers and holding onto her stuffed tiger. "Love ya, kid. I'm proud of you."

"Love you too, Dad," she murmured before re-shutting her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

It made Jess smile.

With his daughter taken care of, Jess made his way back downstairs to help Luke close up, shutting the lights off in the process. As he began lifting the chairs up onto the table, he made sure to warn his uncle, "oh, by the way. You're getting arrested very soon when the cop has had her rest."

Luke stared at his nephew, confused. "Huh?"

But Jess just smirked as he continued moving the chairs up onto the table.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Had this idea stuck in my head for a while to make a part two so I decided to finally get it out. Since a few liked the first part, maybe after I finish _Healing Love_ I'll somehow make this into a full story. **


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